And so we headed to the volcanoes...........

New Mexico has a section of the Rocky Mountains that run the length of the state. In Albuquerque there are two sections of the Rocky Mountains. The Sandia (watermelon) Mts. and the Manzano (apple) Mts. All of the mountainous terrain was caused by geologic activity and not surprisingly we also have the remnants of volcanic activity in the state.

On the western border of Abq. lie the volcanic cones left from ancient volcanoes. There are 5 or 7 depending who you ask and they are called the sisters. Further to the west toward the Navajo nation is Mt. Taylor, which also is formation from a volcano. From space you can see a huge lava flow that runs from Carizozo to White Sands. Google Earth shows it quite nicely. It's toward the southern part of the state. We have lots of volcanic rock in our neck of the woods (and now in our front yard, memory rocks from trips ya know).

On the western edge of Abq. there is Los Volcanes park where you can climb around on two of the domes. Unbeknownst to me or the kiddos, Sweet Man packed us up for a road trip on Saturday and off we went to the volcanoes. We didn't have the right shoes, or sunscreen or hats but we did have water and a will to do it.....or at least some of us did. Sweet Man is like that, always has been. I think it is either that his name in German means crazy person or a family tradition because of his native american blood.....let's just move the teepee cuz I have an itch or something. I think the term exasperating fits here. 

Anyway, the kids had a good time, especially danger Jane, she climbed to the top of one of the cones in her flip flops. Ry kept an eye out for snakes cuz that's what he is fixated on at the moment....never can tell when one of those sneaky ones will be seen and scare the adventurers hat off your head or something. They saw no snakes but did see a plethora of lizards. Some the kids had never seen before. The one on the rock pictured even did a head wag territorial shake at GK. 

you see on the upper right of this picture? That's where I was sitting in the car waiting for the kids and SM.

I on the other hand was not included in the activity because I had the wrong shoes on and let's not take a chance of Oma getting hurt.....so I sat in the car and waited for them for an hour with nothing to do...I coulda brought a book or hand sewing or my phone but nope, with no advanced notice I just watched baby flies get eaten by birds......

This topography is what I think most folks think NM looks like all over. Dry, desolate but that isn't the case. This side of town towards the west is flat and sparse and has a beauty all of its own. We don't get to the westside much and this was a fun trip. The kids also got to see how big ABQ really is and also recognized some of the area from the TV show "In Plain Sight" which is filmed here.

And then we went to Cracker Barrel where we celebrated Mother's Day early like smart people without the crowds. Yum.